Online TV Explained

Online TV, Internet TV IPTV, Catch up TV, movie streams, TV Episodes.. Phew and many other names are all used to explain the process of watching TV on your PC and over the internet. So whats it all mean and how do you get it?

Well the first thing you will need to watch TV over the internet is a broadband connection, dialup just doesnt cut it so get a fast connection. The faster the better.

Internet TV, Online TV, Free TV

This refers to TV channels that have online streams. Many of these streams come from well known sites such as ABC news, QVC etc plus lots of totally unheard of channels. There is a large selection although they tend to be shopping/news/music/chat shows and not any premium content. See Internet TV by Category here and by country here. We also have a list of the best free internet tv sites here.

To watch These Internet TV channels you will need several free media players that are available for download from the internet. Windows Media Player and Apples Quicktime are two of the most common. However, different websites use different media players, so you may need to download them all to take advantage of all the content thats available online. Download the latest media players from here

The difference between streaming and downloading

If your going to watch TV on your PC live or in ‘real time’ then the data has to be sent to your PC over the internet fast enough so you can watch without any hold ups. If your connection isnt up to it and cannot stream the video quick enough, the end result will be freezing screen, and patchy viewing quality whilst your computer waits for parts of the program to load up.

However already downloaded content does’nt have this problem as you download the entire video file before you start viewing. The downside with this is that the files are very large so if your broadband connection is on the slow side, you could be waiting for hours or even days!

These big files can also use up any capped broadband package allowance if you have it. You need to keep an eye on how much you are downloading as a single episode of 24, Grays anatomy or Desperate Housewives, for example, will use up several hundred megs of your data allownce.

How to download TV shows and Movies

To find and download a movie or tv episode you need to download a free p2p software package. Details of the best are on our P2P page. Then search for your movie or show and start downloading. Once its done you can access straight from your hard drive anytime even when your offline. You can also use Torrents to download which is similar to P2P but a little more complicated.

Watching Movies and TV shows

Catch up TV, On demand TV

To watch the program you want you can either go to the official networks website such as ABC or NBC etc. and search for the show. Most sites have a catch up list so just click the link to streaming TV and start watching. Visit our catch up tv page. The downside with this method is that many networks will only allow you to watch the show if your in the right country. So to watch the American networks you need to be in the USA. They can check this from your computers IP address.

Free Movie & TV show websites

By searching the many streaming TV and movie sites on the internet you can view latest movies and TV shows as soon as they are released. List of TV and Movie sites here. The downside of this method is that the legality of it is in question, although the sites are all still online and Google links to them all, however this may change at any time in the future. Also many of these sites have pop ups and other unsavoury advertising going on. See all Movie and TV show websites here

Enjoy the world of internet TV and dont forget we will always have the latest in online TV developments and news here on worldtvpc

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